If you had to choose between being an Ice-Dancer OR Pairs Skater,which would you be?

[FSWer]

Ok,I know a lot of us would love to be both. BUT...today I want to start a servy Poll and ask everyone here,that IF they HAD to choose between EITHER being an Ice-Dancer OR a Pairs Skater...which one would they be? Please include the reason for your pick. I chose Ice-Dancer,please I find myself a Natual at it!!!

[Katarzyna]

I would prefer to be a pairs skater - they have it all: speed, spins, jumps and steps. BTW I once had a very weird dream of being Elena Berezhnaya and practicing huge throw jumps with Anton. Scary experience!

[AndyWarhol]

Pairs.. I had the option to do dance, but it never appealed to me.

Having said that, Im not really the right build for pairs.. i would need a giant partner!

[sk8kat]

I actually did (and loved) both at relatively low levels. If I had to choose one, though, I probably would go with pairs simply because I found it easier. The difficulty of dance is SOOO underappreciated. (I know I scoffed at it until I did it.) Truth be told, I think pairs skaters would benefit tremendously by going through at least the silver level of dance.

[figuristka]

Ice Dancer, well i did do ice dancing in the past and its great trying dance lifts if you can. Pairs i tried only once for fun and while i did enjoy it i think i would have been a bit too cautious at all the dangerous lifts and throws. An overhead lift it harder than you think to hold your own weight, maybe i just had weak arms lol.

[IneZR]

I'd choose ice dancing, because I find pairs to be very dangerous. When I think of all those crazy lifts and throws that pairs skaters do I can't believe how brave all these girls are (remember Tatiana Totmianina's and Dan Zhang's terrible falls and Elena Berezhnaya' accident with her previous partner ). Plus I am too tall to be a pairs skater, so ice dancing is my choice!

[Sasha'sSpins]

Pairs skater. I love the athleticism of Pairs coupled with artistry-there's more of a danger factor with throws, etc. and that to me is quite exciting!

[Holley Calmes]

I grew up in the South where there was little chance to skate with any kind of professional training, so there was no hope for me. I went the ballet route, but looking back, I bet I would have been a better skater than dancer. I have really great derriere and thigh muscles-not big, just strong. Plus good balance, decent extension, and musicality. I'm only 5'4" and I remember choreography!

So..I guess I would choose Ice Dancer because those lifts and throws would scare me to death.

Of course, now I'm simply just TOO OLD!!! In years, not in spirit.

[apatinar]

Pairs skater. I have been a fan of figure skating for a long time and i just don't understand dance at all and how it's judged besides how fast and in-sync the twizzles are.

[carriecmu0503]

Pairs skater. I have been a fan of figure skating for a long time and i just don't understand dance at all and how it's judged besides how fast and in-sync the twizzles are.

Then in all honesty, you don't understand how ANY discipline in skating is judged. Freestyle/ pair skating judging is based on a LOT more than just the jumps. Just like pair skaters, dancers have lifts, spins, step sequences, etc that all count towards the score. If jumps were the only thing that mattered, someone like Patrick Chan would not win everything under the sun with how many times he tends to fall in competition.

[winterone]

Then in all honesty, you don't understand how ANY discipline in skating is judged. Freestyle/ pair skating judging is based on a LOT more than just the jumps. Just like pair skaters, dancers have lifts, spins, step sequences, etc that all count towards the score. If jumps were the only thing that mattered, someone like Patrick Chan would not win everything under the sun with how many times he tends to fall in competition.

Pairs requires more risky elements. Dance is an exercise in perfection or failure.

[carriecmu0503]

Pairs requires more risky elements. Dance is an exercise in perfection or failure.

Have you ever tried dance? It doesn't sound like it.

[AndyWarhol]

Have you ever tried dance? It doesn't sound like it.

HAHA, my old coach broke his ankle after demonstrating a dance lift (that went wrong)....

[Garden Kitty]

Assuming I had the talent for both, I'd pick pairs. I don't think I could dress up for all the practices like the ice dancers.

[shine]

Ice Dance. In addition to Pairs being such a high risk descipline, I actually never really found pairs skating really that interesting besides a few pairs that I really liked. Out of all the desciplines I think Pairs is the one in which artistic expression is limited the most by the technical aspect. I may be wrong, but there just doesn't seem to be much room for presenting something that can be truly original because of all the pairs elements that you need to worry about first and fore most, to a even greater degree than in singles skating.

[Mafke]

I used to love pairs before CoP came along. At it's best it had a kind of transcendence that no other discipline can touch.

On the other hand, if I had a daughter who was a skater I would everything I could to keep her from skating pairs now...

[Badams]

I picked pairs. It's way less crowded, unfortunately, and I might stand a chance. Of course that just means that on a really good day, and someone else's really bad day, I might end up not last. And I'm 5 feet tall.

[PeterG]

I chose ice dance as there would be less opportunity for me to mortally would my partner!!

[Macassar88]

I definitely prefer watching Ice Dance but I think pairs would be more fun.

[Vash01]

Even though I skate neither, I would choose ice dance because I am better at edges than pairs elements (of course I have never even attempted a throw or a lift). I am not particularly adventurous, so I would be too scared to be held up 8 ft high in the air while moving. That is not to say, ice dance does not have dangers. There are injuries, and falls, and the two have to skate close together (always dangerous). Still that is less scary to me.